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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26837503">No more excuses</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/purple_ramblings/pseuds/purple_ramblings'>purple_ramblings</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Valentine/Sullivan/Adena triad [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Father Brown (2013)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Fluff, Multi, Polyamory, Triad - Freeform, after 8x10 The Tower of Lost Souls, inspired by: broken but home - the common linnets, playful banter between the inspectors</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 12:22:35</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,192</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26837503</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/purple_ramblings/pseuds/purple_ramblings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“See you at the yard,” Inspector Sullivan said, sharing another look with Inspector Valentine.<br/>“Thank you, chief inspector,” Valentine replied and if the look held and intensified a little longer, then no one was really any wiser as Sullivan put on his hat and turned to leave.</p><p>A Valentine/Sullivan/OFC triad scenario that evolved out of Andy (@inspectorsullivans/@thegildedquill) and I rambling about, as we always do</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Valentine/Sullivan/Adena triad [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1959028</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>No more excuses</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This story basically happened like this:<br/>Andy and I were talking about headcanoning the inspectors with a strong, confident wife that bosses them around and teams up with Father Brown (a story that will happen at another point in time, I'm sure). Somehow that turned into musings about that not being individual wives with each inspector but, yknow, all of them. Mallory was discarded early on for many, obvious reasons and then we remembered The Tower of Lost Souls and, well, now you get to read this.<br/><br/>First threesome/triad pairing I'm posting and I love them so much I might need to write more with them but for now here is this one shot :)<br/>Also, have <a href="https://64.media.tumblr.com/d9ad9436c3b299b8087c4ef46d812f69/05fd089194db7268-30/s1280x1920/d09a4ac1c6e8c7eb7cd6dbf9acf91fe9365e7889.png">this pretty screenshot</a> from the end of the episode to go with this :)<br/><br/>I hope you enjoy and I would love to hear your thoughts, reactions, feelings, ideas, ... in the comments/tags!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“See you at the yard,” Inspector Sullivan said, sharing another look with Inspector Valentine.</p><p class="western">“Thank you, chief inspector,” Valentine replied and if the look held and intensified a little longer, then no one was really any wiser as Sullivan put on his hat and turned to leave.</p><p class="western">“Till next time, Father,” he bid farewell to the priest who looked intrigued at the prospect and left the familiar police station.</p><p class="western">It had been a while since he had been in Kembleford, actually he hadn’t been back since receiving his promotion to the Yard. He found that in some way he missed it, surprisingly, and in some ways he really did not. Kembleford was cozy and most cases had lesser stakes to it, but London had its advantages too. More people, more houses, more corners and alleyways, more shadows.</p><p class="western">He must have been considering that for a moment longer because just as he made to get over to his car, the door opened behind him and out came Inspector Valentine. They both went to their respective cars and opened the doors on the driver’s sides but paused for a moment then.</p><p class="western">“See you at the yard,” Valentine called over, just loud enough for the other man to hear him, with a small grin.</p><p class="western">Sullivan returned it, giving a nod. “Addle Street,” he stated, grin widening into a smirk.</p><p class="western">“Harp Lane,” came Valentine’s reply and his smirk was even a little bigger.</p><p class="western">“We’ll see.” Sullivan tipped his hat and got into his car.</p><p class="western">“That we will,” Valentine agreed, warmly, watching his counterpart pull away from the Kembleford police station before he quickly jumped into his car as well. Addle Street versus Harp Lane, always the same argument, always the same competition – and he was determined to win it this time.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">They may have taken two cars back into the city, the same way they had arrived, and were taking two different routes there, one via Addle Street, the other via Harp Lane, but it was still the same place they were going to at the end of the long and laborious day of solving the case in Kembleford. There were reports to be written still, too much paperwork involved with all of this, especially considering one of them had been arrested in the process of it. But now it was all resolved, as resolved as two murders and several attempted ones could be, and they could finally go home.</p><p class="western">A few days in Kembleford had been… nice in some way, seeing old, familiar faces and places but none of it could in any way come close to truly coming home. Kembleford had been a shorter stop for them, neither of them filling the role of inspector there for very long, but this now, this was going to be a longer one. Maybe a permanent one.</p><p class="western">Home was a small brownstone, terraced house, hidden behind an unassuming dark green door. The backyard of which had a, joking but also exasperated, sign: the yard. But wasn’t so much the house itself that was home, it was what was in the house. What, and who, lived behind that door was what made the house a home.</p><p class="western">They arrived there within moments of each other, as they often did. Still, a few moments in front or behind still meant one of them got there first and they never failed to keep the tally of that. In the end though, it didn’t matter if Addle Street or Harp Lane was the faster way – both routes brought them home.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Harp Lane,” Valentine called out to Sullivan, the former already getting out his house key while the latter was just getting out of the car.</p><p class="western">“There was an accident on-” Sullivan started to tell him but Valentine waved him off.</p><p class="western">“Excuses, excuses,” he taunted as he opened the dark green front door. It was remedied by him letting Sullivan pass through first though, but most of all the knowing smile they shared as soon as the door was firmly closed behind them.</p><p class="western">“What a day,” Valentine sighed, shoulders dropping with the deep breath he exhaled.</p><p class="western">“What a case,” Sullivan agreed and hung his hat next to Valentine’s on his usual hangers.</p><p class="western">Both were shedding their jackets, Sullivan left with his waistcoat while Valentine was down to his shirt and suspenders as he had never fancied the more formal getup that the other man preferred. It did suit him though, he had to admit, oh did it suit him.</p><p class="western">Then a door opened somewhere on the upper levels and their eyes found one another again, similar smiles spreading on their faces as they listened to the hasty steps.</p><p class="western">“Love, is that you?” a voice called from there and their smiles grew involuntarily at the sound of it. More steps, down a staircase now, coming down from the second floor as they could now tell.</p><p class="western">“Both of us,” they called up and a small cry of joy followed before even faster steps thundered down the rest of the way. Valentine gave Sullivan a look with a wag of his eyebrows but both their eyes quickly went back to the figure appearing at the top of the lower staircase.</p><p class="western">“It <em>is</em> both of you!” was exclaimed with clear, audible delight and they watched her take the rest of the stairs quickly, slowing as she neared the bottom. Her eyes shone with earnest elation to see them and soft, very kissable – if you asked them – lips were pulled apart with a beaming smile.</p><p class="western">“Well?” She put her hands on her hips, coming to a halt on the last step. Even the extra boost could not fully even out the height differences but it was a start. “I trust you wouldn’t be home if you hadn’t solved the case, so have you? Who was it?”</p><p class="western">The eldest of the three of them let out a laugh and approached her, running his hands along her hips to the small of her back and pulling her to him. “Of course we solved the case, darling.”</p><p class="western">“So you did,” she smiled and continued to do so into the kiss he pressed to her lips gently. At the same time she extended her hand towards the other man who came slowly at the beckoning.</p><p class="western">“You probably did it on your own, seeing as this one couldn’t get the job done alone,” she commented cheekily, patting Valentine’s cheek affectionately while she smirked at Sullivan and slid her other hand around his shoulder to pull him in for a kiss as well. “Welcome home,” she whispered to him, sounding font and very content to have both of them home now.</p><p class="western">“Might need to be away more often if this is the welcome we get,” Valentine teased her and garnered himself a dark look for it.</p><p class="western">“Might put you in the doghouse if you do it again without calling,” she told him disapprovingly.</p><p class="western">“You called?” Valentine gave Sullivan a look of betrayal.</p><p class="western">“Of course he did,” she tutted. “He actually has manners.”</p><p class="western">Sullivan couldn’t help his laugh at that, while Valentine naturally was less than impressed with that.</p><p class="western">“Don’t think I don’t know you got yourself arrested, Henry Valentine,” she announced, pushing through the two of them and making her way down the corridor.</p><p class="western">“You told on me!” Valentine accused his counterpart as they both followed her like well trained puppies because, well, they were. “Adena, I-”</p><p class="western">She cut him off with a look, gesturing to one of the chairs at the kitchen table. “Sit.”</p><p class="western">He sat. Sullivan took the chair corner to him, long legs bumping under the table, but that was beside the point.</p><p class="western">Adena rounded the chair and tutted softly, seeing the remnants of the wound he had suffered from the blow with the wooden bar at the top of the tower. It had fully scabbed over now and was no longer as tender to the touch when she very gently ran her fingertip around the edges of it. She brushed the hair away from it softly and leaned down, placing a kiss on it. With another sigh she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and rested her chin on top of his head.</p><p class="western">“So? Tell me about it. What kind of case requires three inspectors in the good ole town of Kembleford? How is the Father? And Mrs. McCarthy? Did you see Lady Felicia or Sidney? I suppose they are still abroad though.”</p><p class="western">Valentine and Sullivan exchanged a look over the kitchen table, one of fond exasperation. Valentine took one of her hands from his chest and placed a small kiss on her palm, holding her to him.</p><p class="western">“Father Brown is as meddlesome as ever,” Sullivan revealed and Adena let out a laugh.</p><p class="western">“Nothing new there.”</p><p class="western">“Oh, but what he isn’t telling you is that he invited the Father right into our midst during the investigation,” Valentine chuckled, freely throwing the other man under the bus who, by the look he received, knew it was payback for before.</p><p class="western">“Did you now?” Adena sounded intrigued.</p><p class="western">“Lady Felicia and Sidney weren’t there but we did have the delight of Mrs. McCarthy and Miss Bunty Windermere’s company,” Valentine added and pursed his lips when Adena let go of him to go over to the fridge. On the way there, her hand brushed along Sullivan’s shoulders and he too caught her hand in his, pulling her to his side and kissing the inside of her wrist. She sighed once more and allowed him to pull her down onto his lap, only because it was a rare occurrence. Without prompt she reached over for the other man that had captured her heart, keeping in contact with both of them.</p><p class="western">“How were things here?” Sullivan asked, running a hand alongside Adena’s waist and back, feeling the texture of the soft fabric of her blouse. He could never remember the kind of fabrics she wore but he always knew they were soft to the touch and smelled of her. He needed no more.</p><p class="western">“Profoundly boring without the two of you to mess up my house,” she laughed and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, leaning into him. “Very lonely and cold all by myself in my bed too,” she added more softly. “Speaking of my bed,” she began and the tone of her voice promised no good, “I’ve got something to show you.” She pressed a quick kiss to the corner of his mouth and stood again.</p><p class="western">“You’ve got something to show us, in your bed.” Valentine gave her a look at the perceived rather inept innuendo that they all knew she was capable of doing much better at.</p><p class="western">“Why, Henry, I never!” she gasped in pretend scandalization, hand to her chest. “Now, if you would follow me, <em>boys</em>.”</p><p class="western">Valentine let out a snort while Sullivan just sighed. They’d been <em>her boys</em> since the very beginning and nothing they could say or do would change her calling the two very grown men that.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">She led them up the stairs to the door behind which her bedroom was. Beds and bedrooms were something the house had three of, technically. Realistically, at least one, often two of them did not see much use. Unfortunately, because they were two very grown men and despite Adena being of smaller build, the three of them in one bed – which was how they preferred it – was just asking for the trouble of one of them inevitably falling out at some point during the night. A matter, it appeared, she had taken into her own hands in their absence.</p><p class="western">Adena opened the door to her bedroom and ushered them into it. “Tadaaa,” she smiled proudly, gesturing to the bed that had decidedly grown in size since the last time they had seen it.</p><p class="western">“You extended it?” Valentine went up to the bed immediately, lifting the comforter to see how she had done it, while Sullivan stood back staring at the now giant sized bed. At least compared to before. It would still be a tight fit but that was how they liked it and-</p><p class="western">“No more excuses,” Adena whispered to him, coming to his side and taking his hand as she smiled up at him. “Both of you fit.” She nodded to the bed behind her but also placed his hand on her chest over her heart.</p><p class="western">She watched him swallow, staring at his hand covered by hers over her heart. Then he surged forward, drawing her into a deep, heartfelt kiss. She almost went off balance with it but there were his arms, securely holding her, steadying her, as he had always done.</p><p class="western">Another pair of arms wound around her, from behind, and another pair of lips pressed few kisses to the reachable part of her neck and jaw. She disengaged from the man in front of her breathlessly, keeping a good grip on him, lest her knees give in on her.</p><p class="western">“Like she said,” Valentine repeated, “no more excuses.” One of his hands went to Sullivan’s side and if Adena got squished between the two men as they shared a tender kiss, she didn’t mind at all. “We fit. All of us.”</p>
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